NBA

New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Brandon Roy shot 12-for-14 from the floor to end with 28 points, as the Trail Blazers improved their playoff standing and simultaneously eliminated New Orleans from postseason contention with a 112-101 win.

"When my mid-range game is falling like it did tonight I think it's going to be tough to defend and I just wanted to take what they gave me," Roy said.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points, Marcus Camby posted 14 rebounds and 11 points and Nicolas Batum chipped in 13 points for the Blazers, who continued to push toward a playoff berth with their seventh win in the last eight games.

Portland has opened up a 5 1/2-game lead over Memphis for the eighth and final bid in the West, tied San Antonio for the seventh spot and moved to within one game of sixth-seeded Oklahoma City with Saturday's win.

Rookie Darren Collison was 10-for-10 from the floor to lead the Hornets with 22 points. He fell one made field goal shy of setting the franchise record for consecutive made in a game.

David West came up with 18 points, Emeka Okafor scored 14 and Chris Paul continued to work his way back into form with 10 assists and seven points in the loss, the Hornets' 12th in the last 15 games.

"It was an incredible performance by Portland especially as far as execution and high level play. Roy played extremely well, as usual," Hornets head coach Jeff Bower said.

Portland was out to a 28-23 lead after 12 minutes and surged late in the second with a 13-2 closing run to gain a 16-point advantage, 57-41, heading to the locker room behind 19 first-half points from Roy.

The Blazers spread the ball around in the third and shot 66.7 percent in the period to help build a 24-point lead on Jerryd Bayless' three-pointer with 1:51 remaining.

It was 90-68 heading to the fourth and Portland's advantage reached 26 before the Hornets' late shooting tear made the score seem more respectable. Collison's 4-for-4 effort and 10 points helped lead a staggering 81.3 percent showing from the field over the final 12 minutes.